SPRINGFIELD — Senate President Don Harmon will not have to pay a nearly $10 million fine for violating state campaign finance laws last year after the State Board of Elections deadlocked Tuesday on approving the fine.
Staff at the elections board fined the Oak Park Democrat’s campaign $9.8 million earlier this year following a Chicago Tribune report that it improperly accepted $4 million more than was allowed during the 2024 election.
Harmon appealed, which sent the matter to a hearing officer, who recommended the full board approve the fine. The board, made up of four appointed Republicans and four appointed Democrats, deadlocked in a 4-4 partisan decision on Tuesday as to whether the fine should stand.
“We’re pleased to have this matter finally behind us and to focus all of our energy on solving the real problems facing Illinoisians every day,” a spokesperson for Harmon said in a statement.
The board’s vote on Tuesday came a month after it previously deadlocked, creating confusion among board members after deputy general counsel Jordan Andrews initially said a tied vote means the fine stands. However, the board cannot approve a fine without a majority vote of five members, which general counsel Marni Malowitz confirmed on Tuesday prior to the board’s vote.
Read more: Elections board deadlocks on $10M fine for Senate President Don Harmon
Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said in a statement he was disappointed the board ignored the recommendation of its own hearing officer and attorney.
“When the facts support a major violation, the rules should be enforced — no exceptions,” Curran said. “This decision undermines accountability and further erodes the public’s trust.”
Alleged violation
The donations in question involve a state law that limits contributions to campaigns during an election cycle. Under the law, a campaign becomes “self-funded” when the candidate contributes or loans more than $100,000 into their campaign. Once that happens, the candidate and their opponents are no longer subject to limits on how much people or political action committees can contribute to the campaign.
Harmon contributed $100,001 to his own campaign in January 2023. Staff at the elections board determined the move should have only lifted contribution limits through the next primary election, meaning the campaign fund improperly collected about $4 million after the 2024 primary.
Read more: Senate President Harmon appeals $10M fine for improper campaign contributions
Harmon appealed that fine, but a hearing officer and attorney for the board recommended on Oct. 7 that the board should let it stand.
Harmon’s arguments
Michael Kasper, a longtime attorney for Illinois Democrats, argued at the October meeting that limits on Harmon’s fundraising should have remained off through the 2026 election, noting the state law regulating self-funded candidates refers only to “elections” and not “election cycles.” Harmon was not on the ballot in 2024 and Kasper said reestablishing caps either after the 2024 primary or general election would establish new limits on fundraising in the middle of Harmon’s term.
Kasper argued that allowing Harmon to self-fund only for a short period in 2024 when he was not on the ballot gives him an unfair advantage to raise unlimited amounts of money well before any challengers would have considered running against him in 2026.
Harmon’s campaign filed a new notice of self-funding earlier this year that only lifts contribution limits through the March 2026 primary.
Though Harmon was not on the ballot in 2024, legislative leaders often use their campaign funds to help other candidates in their caucuses with their races, often through direct contributions or by covering expenses for their members’ campaigns.
The board’s chair, Laura Donahue, who is also a former Republican state senator, said the deadlocked vote means the board missed an opportunity to define the length of an election cycle as it pertains to contribution limits.
“We won’t have any direction because we’ve had recommendations from the hearing officer, our general counsel and we don’t know what an election cycle is defined,” Donahue said. “I think it will be incumbent upon the legislature to either give us that — or the court or somewhere — but we’re in kind of a limbo.”
New challenge for Harmon
Though the board’s vote on Tuesday puts to rest the alleged violation and fine assessed by staff at the State Board of Elections, Harmon is not entirely out of the woods. The Liberty Justice Center, a conservative-leaning law firm, filed a citizen-initiated complaint with the State Board of Elections last week.
“The Liberty Justice Center brought this complaint on behalf of our client, Joel Bulluck, to hold Senator Harmon accountable under Illinois campaign finance laws,” Justice Center senior counsel Jeffrey Schwab said in a statement. “If Illinoisans are to have confidence that these laws will achieve their intended goal of preventing corruption, they must be enforced correctly and consistently."
A spokesperson for the board said such complaints are evaluated by a hearing officer and the board’s attorneys who then make a recommendation to the board in a closed-door meeting about whether the complaint is justifiable. If the board votes in the closed meeting that the complaint is justifiable, then it can move forward for public hearings.
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